Beer: Ratings & Reviews

Reviews by BrownNut:

A - Black as midnight. Shining a bright flashlight into this does nothing. The light doesn't penetrate a full millimeter into that murk. Lovely textured tan head that lingers. Lots of lacing.

S - Mildly sweet caramelly earthy malt

T - Less sweet than some I've had, with a mature bit of char character that turns into a dry dark chocolaty bitter on the back of the tongue in the afterswallow and exhale and lingering aftertaste. Just a touch of tartness.

M - Just as satisfyingly thick and luscious as you want it to be. It's been a while since I had a nice thick beer and this hits the spot. So nice to pull on.

O - Mild like you'd expect, but with just enough subtle character to rescue it from being bland and put it into the nicely done category. I'd call it a mature oatmeal stout, like what they tried to do with the Arch Deluxe. It's hard for this style to score highly due to its innately mild and subdued character but this is pretty well done. I put this up there with Samuel Smith's.

More User Reviews:

Pours a pitch black with a creamy off-white head,taste is very caramelly and of semi-sweet chocolate.The taste is roasted and chocolaty with some caramel sweetness almost like a snickers bar but not as sweet there is some nice nuttiness in the background.A real nice beer a liquid dessert.

Appearance  Black as night with a super-dark, foaming head that lingered and laced the glass. Absolutely gorgeous.

Smell  The perfect mix of coffee, roasted malts, fine espresso, and SF chocolate. The ripe fruits are in the background but very present: apricot at the pit, Bing cherries, some tobacco, and raisins.

Taste  The hop balance here caught me by surprise. Comparisons to Stone are inevitable, yet deceiving. The sherry balance in the Stone is reflected in the hop balance of the Rogue. Otherwise, the trails are similar.

The lovely roasted malt base makes this a standout. Add to that the bitter coffee and espresso flavors and youve got a real winner. If you think coffee and espresso are the same, try mixing them together. You can taste the strong distinctions between the two mixtures, and this has both of them on display at their finest qualities.

The awesome, ripe fruits are here as well, but this is not a sweetened or sugary stout by any means. Again, contrast to the Stone where sweetness abounds. Here the darkish malts and bitter hops create a refreshing characteristic uncommon to the style.

Mouthfeel  Full-bodied for sure and very refreshing. This one is a mouthful indeed.

Drinkability  I could drink one of these a day for the rest of my life. The nice thing about the incredible balance is that its the right beer any time of the year. This is by far Rogues finest offering that Ive tasted. Well done!

Update  I originally rated this in 2003 so thought it would be fun to sit down with paper and pen and give it another go in 2005. Man, is this a good beer.

It looks, smells, tastes, and feels incredible. Its really hard to find any fault with this beer. Im upping the Appearance to a perfect 5.0 and considering myself blessed for having such easy access to this Rogue offering.

Update  I put an 05 in the cellar and popped it in July 2006 to see how it would age. The head was predictably smaller and the malts a bit more broken down, but the lovely roasted malt is still very strong and hasnt sugared up in the least. Maybe as a two-year-old it might start to sweeten, but after just one year it is super-hardy and ready for some more cellar time!

Pours jet black, with very nearly no other shades of color, even at the edges. Huge, dark tan head tops this one off with fine bubbles, lasting for quite a while and leaving some small bits of chunky lacing behind. Aroma full of sweetness and roasted grain, and surprisingly a small dose of ashy, leafy hop on the nose. A faint, light cocoa aroma is present and becomes a little stronger as it warms up. Oats are also very apparent on the nose, adding a creamy and milky sweet aroma to buckle everything together. Should be a nice ride.

Shakespeare hits the palate with a very creamy body and a silky mouth feel - somewhat on the heavier side, but not quite chewy or "thick". The flavor is very robust and commanding - deeply roasted malts begin to lay the foundation for a nice collage of flavors. Nutty and woody flavors come marching through along with bittersweet cocoa powder and maybe the faintest hint of coffee or espresso on the very back of the tongue. The hop character is actually quite strong, and works surprisingly well; earthy, leafy, floral - they provide a nice, offsetting bitterness. The oats are also noticeable on the palate, more so in the aftertaste - but really, their biggest role is adding to the creamy mouth feel of the beer. Aftertaste is a bittersweet cocoa and earthy, roasted malt flavor with just a slight touch of left-over hop. Carbonation was medium, enough to produce a gigantic head upon pouring this one.

Solid oatmeal stout here, and actually one of Rogue's less expensive bomber offerings. Nice, robust flavors along with a friendly mouth feel and a low ABV make this stout super drinkable any time of the day.

Great abundance of your expected flavors presented in an exceptional way. Toasty cocoa, bitter coffe, and sweet malt all share a place on the flavor pallet. Delicious.

Smooth, creamy, wonderful.

I was considering giving up on the style so I stocked my fridge (via my beer fridge) with my stout stock and thought that i would trudge through a style that had lost its luster for me. I have changed my mind. I hope I can find some more opinion changers in my own fridge.

This is now officialy the best stout that I have ever had. This poured jet black with a medium sized brown head that turned into a nice pillowy froth on top of the beer. The smell was heavenly with the smell of coffee beans and a slight hint of plum. The taste just killed me with its perfect balance of hoppy, chocolate and smokey flavors all rounded out by a great coffee finish. This stout is balanced to perfection and is one of the few that I could pound back all night and enjoy every minute of it.

Pours a totally black color, with a nice malted-milk colored head. Smells of a chuck of chocolate. Taste is your typical stout, not too heavy, not too light, with a nice chocolate flavor and some bitterness.

This is quite a good brew, not too big (like an imperial stout), but not a lightweight either. Definitely a once-in-a-while beer though.

Ahhh Shakespeare Stout...I've been waiting awhile to try this one. Pours from the bomber a thick old motor oil black with a beautiful dark tan head. This brew is night. Roasted oats, molasses and cocoa waft up into my nose from the glass. Spicy citrus hop undertones as well...nose candy.

The first sip ignites with roasted, even a bit smoky oat tones rolled up with bitersweet chocolate, roasted coffee, molasses, raisins and just a slight hint of bitter citric hoppiness. Nirvana in a glass...simply stout-tastic.

Mouthfeel is creamy, lush and full. Shakespeare commands you to drink! Drinkability is marvelous as well. Can there be a reason to stop drinking this....I didn't think so. One of the best straight up stouts I've yet to have...props to Rogue. Highly recommended...a brew to be reckoned with.

This was the best Rogue Brewery offering that I've tried so far. It was a very dark brown shade with a small coffee-colored head. It had a very pleasant sweet roasted malt odor. The taste was coffee/grainy, with some hoppiness showing up afterwards. A good mouthfeel, not overpowering, and not much carbonation. Very drinkable, enjoyed it a lot.